Surviving a Shooting Spree
Surviving a Shooting SpreeBy Sgt. Jim Wagner |
Because more shootings are materializing, here is some advice that could help save your life in a massacre. While these sensational stories receive the most attention in the media, there are scores of local shootings and stabbings in our major cities. Four Methods for Survival If you’re indoors and surrounded by people when a gunman starts shooting into the group, there’s a possibility that you’ll be too far from any reliable cover that can stop bullets or fragmentation. If this happens, dive to the floor and play dead. Remember, you have to convince the gunman that you are a casualty. If you look dead, the gunman will likely engage other targets (such as people who are wounded or are trying to escape the carnage), move to other target-rich environments or prepare for the police response. If you are away from the initial attack but are still close enough to be struck by bullets or fragmentation, run into a nearby room, stairwell or an adjoining area separated by a partition. When you enter the momentary refuge, you have four tactical options based on the situation and terrain: escape, hide, barricade or ambush. Escape—When you first enter the area, look for an escape route, such as a window, door, hallway or stairwell. The farther you can get away from the violence the better. Hide—If there are no escape routes and you believe that the gunman didn’t spot you, hide yourself. If inflicting mass casualties is the goal, the shooter will perform only cursory searches, case studies show. In other words, if a suspect enters a room and doesn’t spot anyone at first glance, he will likely seek out other rooms for targets. However, if you are his specific target and are in your office or classroom, hiding is not the best course of action. Barricade—If you ran into a room without an escape route and believe that the gunman saw you enter your location, slow the suspect by locking the doors, moving furniture or debris in front of the door, or creating an obstruction. Your goal is to make the suspect think that it is not worth the effort to pursue you, and he will either move onto other targets or engage the police. Ambush—Attacking the gunman as he comes through the door is another survival tactic. This is when your martial arts skills come in handy. The type of techniques you use to counterattack will depend on whether the gunman knows you’re inside, what he’s armed with, and whether he is working with a team. If you are going to ambush an attacker, here is how to do it. Setting Up an Ambush No matter how professional the gunman is, only one person can pass through a doorway at a time. The gunman cannot simultaneously see both hard corners—the right and left corners of the room located closest to the door—so he has only a 50-50 chance of determining which side you will be on if you’re waiting in one of them. Even SWAT team members and military special-operations personnel have to train for many hours to make looking into the hard corners a habit. Instead of immediately checking the hard corners, it’s human nature to look toward the center of a room and then scan outward. Set up your ambush on the opposite side of the door hinge so you don’t have to waste valuable moments going around the door to reach the attacker. If you enter a room with the intention of ambushing the gunman, your first task is to find an improvised weapon. It could be a laptop computer, a desk lamp or even a metal filing bin. Once you have your weapon, get close enough to the door so you can immediately strike the bad guy coming in but not so close that he can see a part of your body or weapon protruding as he breeches the threshold. The rule of thumb is to stay behind an imaginary 45-degree line extending from the door jam inward. Also, stay at least six inches away from the wall so the gunman can’t hear you. You’ll be extremely nervous, and you don’t want to attract any attention because part of your body or clothing is rubbing or clanking against the wall. Keep the weapon you are holding close to your body, near the chest area, so it can sail into the head of the intruder. In a terrorist attack, school shooting or office massacre, a gunman knows that his victims are unarmed, so he usually enters a room hastily when hunting down his victims. A gunman knows that most people will either flee or submit and that they are not prepared for an aggressive ambush. Therefore, you may have a greater advantage in such situations than you realize.
I have run hundreds of students through this kind of training, and I can tell you from experience that you cannot control a firearm with one hand and strike with the free hand like so many martial arts instructors are teaching. Once you grab the weapon with both hands, slam that large piece of metal into the attacker’s face. It’s a lot harder for him to push away the weapon than it is to pull it toward him. You only have one chance at taking the gun from him, so you have to successfully stun him. Instead of attempting some fancy disarm, rip the gun from his hands and step away from him. Point the weapon at center mass and squeeze the trigger. If the weapon fails to fire and you don’t have either the time or knowledge to clear it, use the gun as an impact weapon. On the other hand, if the weapon fires properly and you hit your target, don’t just stand there gawking in shock at the damage you just inflicted. Immediately prepare for a possible gunman who may be coming through the door to hide the one you just shot. In this case, it is probably better to move toward the door and engage any hostiles rather than waiting for them to come for you. If you wait too long, a second terrorist may lob a grenade before entering the room to “clear” it. Therefore, hit any secondary gunmen while there is still confusion about the fate of the first. Facing a Weapon With a Sling Of course, not every gunman uses a pistol. If the attack is a terrorist, the weapon of choice will most likely be an assault rifle, such as an AK-47, M4 or MP5. These long guns all have one thing in common: a sling that keeps the weapon securely attached to the user’s body. If the user transitions from his primary weapon to his secondary weapon (usually a handgun), the sling allows for a hands-free carry. Obviously, ambushing someone with such a weapon is going to make taking the weapon from him a little harder. Just like ambushing someone with a pistol, you should find a weapon and strike the gunman in the head. The next step is to immediately grab the rifle with both hands, push the muzzle away in a safe direction, and then place your chest against the bad guy’s chest if he is still conscious and fighting back. Before he has a chance to turn the muzzle on you or sear your hand with a burst of fire, grab the side of his head with both your hands and do a thumb gouge into his eyes. Keep your chest pressed against his in case of a sympathetic reflex reaction while his finger is on the trigger. Once the gunman is momentary incapacitated, reach over his back, grab the sling strap, pull it over his shoulder and toward you, which frees the weapon from his body. Aim the weapon at his center mass, fire and then engage any other terrorists who are approaching the door. Training for Ambushes To train realistically for a door ambush, you will need some basic safety equipment and a suitable doorway. The trainer, playing the role of the gunman, will need a hard shell helmet, eye protection, a mouthpiece, and a rubber training gun. (Make sure the finger is out of the trigger guard to avoid a broken digit.) The trainee will need some sort of padded weapon or no weapon at all. Don’t make the mistake of coming up with fancy moves and choreographed patterns. Just try your scenarios at full speed and see what happens. Also, don’t fall into the trap of being “cooperative partners.” When I am playing the role of the gunman, I will let the trainee touch the gun when he is attempting a disarm, but after that, I will do my best to not let him get the weapon and try to shoot him with it. Just like a real criminal or terrorist, I am a very “uncooperative partner.” Nobody is going to hold his weapon out there and let you take it. You have to work for it if you want it.
What if your attacker is coming into the room, only this time he is armed with a knife? Here is the best way to deal with a door ambush in which the attacker is armed with an edged weapon. Use these tactics in confined-space knife attacks or if you are protecting someone and you must stay put in order to shield him or her. Element One—Grab. When someone comes at you with a knife, your natural instincts are to put your hands up in self-defense. Because you will already be doing this, try to grab the attacker’s knife hand with both of yours. To do this, imagine the knife hand is someone’s neck and pretend you are “choking” that person with both hands. You need to use both your hands to stop the weapon and maintain control of it. If you do not succeed on the first try, try again on the second or third attempt. Remember, this is done in situations when you are cornered, so you must secure that weapon at all costs. True, you may get cut or stabbed in a real fight, but you must grab the hand that is controlling the knife before more damage can be done. When slippery blood gets into the equation, it becomes even more difficult. (To simulate this, I will have petroleum jelly smeared on the attacking student’s hand and knife to make disarms even more difficult.) While training, your “attacker” should come in at a variety of angles. You will see that at any angle, it is possible to grab the attacker’s arm or wrist as long as you’re focused on getting it. Don’t expect to have your hands in the perfect position once you grab hold, especially during full-speed simulations. Once you latch on, maintain your grip. Changing your grip or hand position midstream is suicide. You may not like your hand positions, but you have to accept it and go immediately to the next step. Element Two—Close. In a knife fight, you are already in what we call “close combat” (within reach of the opponent). Yet, in order for the attacker to do damage, he still needs several centimeters of room in order to swing his weapon or thrust it into you. Therefore, once you grab the knife hand, immediately close the gap. Step into the attacker, crowd him, whatever you want to call it, but get right up against the attacker and tightly secure his weapon hand against your body. Yes, there is a chance that the blade can cut you (in real-life situations), but it will be a surface cut and not a deliberate deep wound caused by the attacker’s force. Of course, the natural reaction of the “bad guy” when you do this is to get away from you, so use the next step before he can escape. Element Three—Takedown. For those who have studied a grappling art like judo, aikido, jiu-jitsu or Greco-Roman wrestling, your skills will pay off at this point. Depending on your body position and your attacker’s, you can force the attacker to the ground with a trip, throw, drop or pull-down. Because you have closed the gap and your body is pressed against his, getting the attacker off-balance will require you to force your shoulder into him and pivot your body in order to successfully complete the takedown. If you feel that there is resistance in the direction you intend to take him, immediately switch directions and bring him to the ground. Once the person has lost his balance or is on the ground, disengage immediately. Do not attempt to fight with him if he is still holding onto the knife, which he most likely will be. It takes only a split second for the attacker to pull free from you, and you’ll find yourself on the business end of a knife. If you’re not part of the military or a law-enforcement agency, I recommend escaping. For a police officer, first obtain adequate distance from the suspect and then draw your firearm. (Impact weapons or chemical agents are better than nothing but are not the appropriate choice against a lethal weapon.) All it takes is some realistic training scenarios to realize that you don’t want to be rolling around on the ground with someone who has a knife. For open-space situations, the tactics are a bit different. Most people assume that there is nothing they can do if an attacker is firing a gun at them at close range, but there is. If you are not close enough to attempt a disarm, immediately turn to the right or left and run away perpendicular or diagonally from the shooter. If you run directly toward the shooter, hoping to overpower him, or if you retreat in a straight line, you become a no-value moving target. Although you may be moving as fast as you can, in the weapon sights of the suspect, you are technically in the same position—you’re just getting larger or smaller. Therefore, all the suspect has to do is take aim once and keep firing in a straight line, in the same direction, increasing the likelihood of a hit or multiple hits. On the other hand, if you take off running to your left or right and keep moving, you become a full-value moving target, which means that the shooter has to keep moving his gun in order to “track” you. Constant movement means the shooter is more likely to miss. Even most military and law-enforcement personnel have trouble hitting “movers.” It takes a lot of practice to become proficient at learning to “lead” (find the aim point in front of the target so the target and the projectile intersect at the same instant), and it is definitely a “perishable skill.” If it is difficult for most “professionals” to hit lateral moving targets, it’s even more difficult for civilians. There are very few civilian pistol ranges in the world that have sideways moving targets. Most gun ranges are set up in lanes, designed for shooters to fire at no-value moving targets. Even most criminals practice their shooting skills in isolated areas against static targets because it takes a lot of preplanning and reliable equipment to set up moving targets. If you run from your gun-toting attacker diagonally, either to the left or right, you become a half-value moving target. You will still be more difficult to hit, but because you are moving closer to a no-value position, you will also become easier to track. Again, the goal is to prevent the shooter from getting a “bead” (his gun sights) on you by forcing the weapon to move, which is inherently less stable.
We’ve been conditioned by Hollywood to think that if we get shot, we’re going to be instantly incapacitated or die. Even in police briefing rooms across North America, there is an ongoing joke that goes like this: “A bad guy can get shot multiple times and live, but an officer gets shot only once and dies.” Why do they say this? Yes, it’s true that a few officers have been killed with only one bullet, but many more officers have been shot once and survived. Yet because of a few incidents, the majority still buys into the lie, as though it were the norm. Needless to say, what do you think will happen to most officers if they do happen to catch that one bullet? I’ll tell you what will happen. Many officers will die because they will have already lost the battle mentally because of a fictitious proverb. The reality is that only 10 percent of all gunshot wounds are fatal. That means that if you get shot, statistically you have a 90-percent chance of surviving. Even if the bad guy is able to hit you as a moving target, the odds are in your favor that it won’t be fatal. I always tell my students that it will take 100 rounds to take me out because I have to reprogram myself from years of listening to defeatist officers. Regardless of whether it is true, mental conditioning for combat is everything when it comes to self-preservation. When I was going through a lengthy sniper course with the 1st Marine Division Scout/Sniper School at Camp Pendleton, California, I will never forget the words painted on one of the beams of the classroom: “Sweat dries, blood clots, bones heal—positive mental attitude.” To me, that says it all. If You or Someone With You Gets Shot Real conflicts often end in serious injuries, be it knife wounds, gunshot wounds, or torn flesh from explosive devices. Injuries are often the end result of real conflict, and this phase is known as post-conflict. Be prepared for injuries to yourself or those around you. Your post-conflict training must include not only basic first-aid skills but also combat first aid. To deal with combat injuries, there is a product that every branch of the U.S. military relies on to stop the combat-related bleeding: QuikClot. QuikClot, created in 2002 by Z-Medica, is a family of products of hemostatic devices based on zeolite, which the Food and Drug Administration cleared for treating external bleeding wounds. The main ingredient, zeolite, is a synthetic inert material that has no biological properties. It works by absorbing water molecules so the blood platelets and coagulation factors are concentrated and activated to rapidly form a clot. The original QuikClot product was battlefield tested at the start of the Afghani and Iraqi wars and is still used today in those theaters. The original 100-gram pack—which is a granular formulation that is poured directly into the wound—is carried by every U.S. Marine since 2003 and was approved by the U.S. Air Force in 2005. I still have one of the original packs that I bought years ago as a souvenir. The original QuikClot brand hemostatic agent is still on the market today but for military orders only because it can cause tissue irritation if not used properly and because of the amount of time it takes for medical personnel to remove from wounds. However, there are other QuikClot products that are just as effective for first responders and martial artists. If you are a corrections, probation or law-enforcement officer, carry a 50-gram or 100-gram QuikClot 1st Response Advanced Clotting Sponge in your trauma plate pocket in the event of an edged-weapon attack or gunshot injury. All field officers should do the same so that everyone knows where it is during an officer-down situation. Too often there is no time to go back to the car to get a first-aid kit. Because the zeolite comes sandwiched in a blood-clotting sponge, this inert material can be literally stuffed into the wound to promote coagulation. On military and law-enforcement products, there is a blue X-ray identifier in the pouch so the material will not be confused with the actual wound if it’s inside the body. Of course, once a first-aid kit is brought to the victim or the victim is brought to the first-aid kit, more sponges can be applied and wrapped in place with QuikClot Combat Gauze. While QuikClot is an excellent tool to use in conjunction with a tourniquet, it never should be used as a replacement for a tourniquet. When I am on duty with my military police unit, I always carry a 100-gram pack in my cargo pants pocket on the base and an additional pack or two in my load-bearing vest for training cycles and actual missions. I also carry a self-applying tourniquet. Martial artist who may face a shooting one day should also carry QuikClot. To properly treat a gunshot wound, apply dressing on top of it with direct pressure. With regular gauze and direct pressure, it can take anywhere from seven to 10 minutes before the wound is effectively clotted and the bleeding stops. With QuikClot, the time is reduced to three to five minutes. For civilians, there’s QuikClot Sport and the QuikClot EHS (Environmental Health and Safety). These products are identical to the first-responder products, except for the X-ray identifier. Let’s say you survive the shooting or stabbing, but one of your friends gets seriously injured. Once you are in a safe area, pulling out a 25-gram or 50-gram QuikClot Sport Advanced Clotting Sponge from a coat or pants pocket could possibly save the person’s life. The great thing about any of the products is that they are easy to carry. All the QuikClot Advance Clotting Sponge products have a shelf life of three years. If after three years you still have not used the product, use them for injury training. By practicing with the products, you will make your training more reality-based. “Gunplay” in the Dojo As a martial artist, you can incorporate gun-survival tactics in your training. There are two ways to go about it. First is through dry-fire drills, and the second method is through Airsoft guns. To practice escaping a pistol-wielding suspect requires a replica firearm. Because you won’t be close enough to disarm the suspect (the trainer), the replica can be made of any material. During the “confrontation” with the suspect, run from him once the shooting spree starts. Using air pistols or rifles that shoot a 6mm plastic projectile will cost some money but not much. Such a pistol is not considered a firearm by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the same holds true for laws in many other countries. A basic weapons system will consist of an Airsoft gun, a bottle of projectiles, face masks and neck protection. Using an Airsoft gun in your training will help you understand the dynamics of a massacre and allow you to feel the consequences when you perform the techniques incorrectly. When the 6mm projectile hits, it stings. In addition, if you have someone firing real projectiles at you, you learn quickly to get behind a solid object (known as “cover” in military and police speak) for protection once you have fled from the shooter. Final Words The tactics and techniques I presented here are true martial arts tactics and techniques. After all, “martial arts” literally means “war arts.” When a person is shooting up a place, it is indeed “war,” and mixing modern tactics and techniques is what reality-based self-defense is all about. (For more on Jim Wagner, check out his books, DVDs and monthly column in Black Belt.) 
Jim Wagner: 2006 Self-Defense Instructor of the Year 7 Signs of Terrorism Jim Wagner at Trexpo West 2009! Jim Wagner: Behind the Scenes at Video Shoot for New DVD Series! Jim Wagner / Reality-Based Personal Protection - Terrorism Survival (DVD 9169) |
